Cutting article from writer seen as mediocre and dated (7)
I believe the answer is:
hacksaw
'cutting article' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'writer seen as mediocre and dated' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'writer' could be 'hack' (hack is a kind of writer) and 'hack' is found in the answer.
'seen' could be 'saw' (seeing is a kind of seeing) and 'saw' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'from' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hacksaw that I've seen before include "something cutting" , "One cuts" , "something to cut copper?" , "Metal-cutting tool" , "Blade in a frame under tension" .)